1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medal counting apparatus installed in a game parlor for counting medals which a game player has won, and more particularly to a medal counting apparatus whose power consumption may be reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a game parlor provided with game machines, such as slot machines which use medals as game media, a large number of medals which a game player has won are usually exchanged for a prize or the like, corresponding to the number of medals. While the medals have to be counted at that time, it takes time and are likely to be miscounted if a very large number of medals are to be counted manually. For this reason, there has been a demand for the development of a medal counting apparatus which automatically counts the medals.
In automating the medal counting, procedure, however, there are some potential problems. Firstly, a driving section of the apparatus may be overloaded since a large number of medals might be dumped in it when counting the medals. Considering the convenience in handling the medals, it is preferable for the player to be able to dump the large number of medals at once when counting the medals. For the counting apparatus, however, a large starting torque is required particularly at a medal receiving section, and there is no alternative but to enlarge the mechanism and motor for the drive, if the apparatus is to be started for the execution of operations such as selection and counting of the medals when a large number of medals are dumped. To deal with such problem, it is conceivable to keep the motor and others always in a drive state. In such a case, however, another problem occurs, namely that power is wasted and noise or the like is generated continually.
Secondly, the apparatus automatically counts up not only genuine medals but also non-genuine medals, e.g., medals having a different diameter which are mixed in with the genuine medals. Particularly, medals having a smaller diameter pose a problem in that they are hard to exclude.